The Greilhof in Salzburg’s Lungau
Anyone who appreciates good bacon and prefers to buy directly from the region’s organic farmer should not miss the Lungauer Greilhof. Because the pioneers in direct marketing process and sell their animals completely themselves.
The organic farm Greilhof is located in Mörtelsdorf near Tamsweg in the middle of the Salzburg Lungau. Surrounded by the nearby fields and with a view of the local mountain Preber, the Wind family has been active there for many years in the direct marketing of their farm products. Their cattle and pigs are kept organically and slaughtered and processed directly on the farm.
Day watch: 4 a.m
Philip Wind and his brother Simon’s day started early. At 4 a.m. at the latest, the two can be found in the butcher’s shop, where they prepare everything for the working day: slaughtering the farm’s own cattle and pigs, cutting the meat, making a wide variety of sausage products, packaging and much more. The products are sold at different markets several days a week, otherwise after the butcher’s work, classic agricultural activities related to the seasons are on the program.
“It doesn’t feel like work for us,” says Philip, who runs the Greilhof together with his wife Corinna, his brother Simon and his wife Claudia, as well as their parents Adelheid and Gottfried. That the team of six can live so well from the farm is not a matter of course. It was the current seniors who started 30 years ago to sell the products they made directly to the customers themselves and to drive to the markets in Salzburg. Today the family offers a wide range of meat and sausage products, which are made in the farm’s own butcher’s shop by master butchers Philip and Simon. They are particularly proud of their pork belly, which was chosen as the best bacon from over 600 submissions at the Wieselburg Fair in 2018. The secret behind it? Above all, plenty of time, good meat, the right mix of spices in the surf barrels and cold smoking. A science to which the old farmer Gottfried in particular has dedicated himself.
A family business through and through
It is immensely important that the family gets along so well. Everyone has their tasks: Philip and Simon in the butcher’s shop, Corinna and Claudia in the office, in the kitchen and in sales, Gottfried in the farm and Adelheid as an all-rounder. “We really did have the right people at the right time, everyone does their best and we have a lot of trust in each other,” Philip reveals to us about the recipe for success behind the family business. “And maybe it also helps not to take yourself so seriously, but to see that the big picture fits,” he adds with a smile.
Direct customer contact
Thursday on the Schranne: You can hear chatter and laughter at the Greilhof sales stand. Philip is just advising a customer on the right cut of meat for her Sunday roast, while Claudia chats happily with a regular customer. Both customers leave the stand with bulging bags before the next ones arrive. “For us, the best thing is getting direct feedback on our products. Lots of people are looking for a business like ours and are so happy when they find us – and of course we’re particularly happy about that,” the organic farmers say. In addition to the Schranne, you can also find the Greilhof every Friday in the Europark and also in the Lungau at the Tamsweger weekly market and in the specialty shop “Kemmts eina” in Tamsweg. Speaking of Lungau: many people from Lungau have ended up in Salzburg in the last few centuries. They especially like to come to the stands of the Greilhof, not only for meat and sausages, but also for the famous Lungau cream chef, which the Wind family always has with them in their luggage.
Bio: the dot on the i
All Greilhof products are organically produced. This starts with the husbandry and feed of the animals and continues with all the ingredients that are used for their products. This means, for example, that all spices for the sausages and purchased ingredients for the Lungauer Rahmkoch come from certified organic farming and are checked annually by the organic control. “Back then, my parents took the bio route and it turned out that that is simply the path that suits us. Natural and sustainable. For many – including us – regionality is particularly important. But then organic is simply the dot on the i”, Philipp explains her conviction for organic.
Love for the Lungau
Even if the Wind family’s working day is often full, sometimes there is still time for activities. This is best used for excursions in the Salzburg Lungau. Into nature, which is so ubiquitous here, in the forest, to the mushrooms, to bathing in the stream and most of all, of course, to the mountains, where you don’t meet too many people here. When you stop off, your favorite things to eat are pancake soup, schnitzel and Kaiserschmarren, before you go back home to enjoy the daily bacon snack.
Greilhof upper floor
Owners: Philipp Wind and Simon Wind
Mortelsdorf 39
5580 Tamsweg
Email: [email protected]
- Schrannenmarkt Salzburg: every Thursday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m
- Europark Salzburg: every Friday 09:00 – 21:00
- Tamsweger weekly market: every Friday 08:00 – 12:00
- Specialty shop “Kemmts eina” Tamsweg: Monday to Saturday: 09:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 18:00, Saturday 09:00 – 12:00 Tamsweg market square
Photos: © Greilhof